Marta Says the Orlando Pride Got an Unfair Call
On Sunday, Gotham FC beat the Orlando Pride 1-0 in the National Women’s Soccer League semifinals, knocking the team — last year’s victors — out of the championships after a roller-coaster season that saw them lose one of their star players to an injury.
Speaking to reporters after the match, Brazilian soccer star Marta, who plays forward on the Pride and serves as the team captain, took issue with the referee call that gave Gotham FC a free kick in the final minutes of the game. “We should have lost the game, but not this way,” she said, according to the Athletic. “This was a hard game, and it was open for both sides. But honestly, it shouldn’t end like that.” She added that she “did not see that there was a fault” from her position on the field, claiming, “I’m sorry, but I feel that the referee was looking to find something like that, to mess up. There was no fault.”
Still, Marta praised the opposing team for their work on the field. “They have a good team. But we needed to be just a little bit more aggressive overall,” she said. “We needed to put the ball in.”
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